Category: Financing & Loans

Endowment Campaigns are often thought of as another type of Capital Campaign, but there are two major (and some minor) differences between these types of fundraising efforts.

•   A capital campaign primarily raises funding
    for tangibles – bricks-and-mortar and
    equipment, sometimes programs. An
    endowment is a “savings account” from which an organization typically uses
    only the interest to help fund programs.

•   A capital campaign is designed to satisfy an “urgent” need – building
    repairs, equipment purchase/replacement or the construction of a (new)
    home for the organization and its programs. Creation of an endowment is
    almost always desirable, but it’s never urgent.

Although, on occasion, a capital campaign may include some effort to create-or-add-to an organization’s endowment, the prospective donors for gifts targeted for the endowment comprise a small segment of your overall constituency.

It takes a specific mindset to see the value in creating that “savings account,” especially during the urgency (for tangibles) of the usual capital campaign. Prospects for endowment gifts tend to fall into one-or-both of the following categories:

•   The Fiscally Knowledgeable: Those individuals (often involved in running
    businesses) who understand the benefit of having a large enough
    “savings account” such that the interest can/will fund the operation of
    (one-or-more of) an organization’s programs, or (ideally)
    can/will fund total operation of the organization.

•   The Ego Driven: Those individuals who would like to make a contribution
    that would become a “separate” endowment, funding all or part of a
    specific program, and having their name (or that of someone they’d like
    to honor/memorialize) attached to that endowment.

I use the word, “ideally,” with the awareness that this would be a very unusual situation. Most nonprofit organizations, including the largest, are focused on raising enough money to get through this year … and, maybe, expand their program a little bit.

Even the largest universities, with billion dollar endowments, don’t have enough ongoing income to fund all of their programs and scholarships. The ideal is that, someday, their endowments might generate sufficient income for all their needs; but, right now, NPOs can only look upon creating/having an endowment as … wouldn’t-it-be-nice!!

A final thought: Since a “campaign,” by definition, is of limited duration, and fundraising efforts for endowment tend to be ongoing … endowment fundraising is often part of an organization’s major gifts program.

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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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Whoever said an event had to be a dinner or a luncheon to work?

The key to making any event succeed is to learn, well in advance, what will bring out your audience: existing donors, new donors, corporations, government officials, community leaders, etc.

Almost every event can benefit from an occasional change of pace … whether to a new venue, a switch from a four-course formal black tie dinner to a reception, a breakfast, a lunch, an afternoon soiree … or almost anything else.

Does the venue or type of event (dinner or luncheon) really matter? One would like to think that your supporters would want to join you regardless of these factors. But, unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

Take the example of one nonprofit that has been doing a major formal dinner for years, with a theme that had become their signature. Problem was, the audience for this glamorous, glitzy night was shrinking, boredom was setting in and costs to maintain this type of event were zooming.

For months, we worked with a staff committee to come up with and discuss the options. The decision was to change the event from Spring to Fall, do it at a different type of location, and with a different spin.

Out of those discussions was born a “reception,” with a completely different graphic design, a new/unique venue and a saving of several hundred thousand dollars.

Focus was placed on the organization’s mission,…

…rather than the usual, “Come celebrate and have a ball.” For our venue, we picked a restaurant that had just opened, giving us the advantage, the cache, the visibility of being the “first” to use the facility.

Coupled with the newly designed materials, a lot of advance promotion and targeted marketing, the “goal” of 200 attendees was realized very quickly. We even had to establish a waiting list.

We knew we had room for at least another 50 to 100 people, but having folks believe that it sold out so fast increased their desire/interest in being part of it … an enviable position in which to find ourselves.

That event became the place to be.

Not only did the organization do well with sponsorships and individual ticket sales, but they received contributions from many new donors … who had heard about the event from friends, and wanted to be part of it.

So the answers to the questions of whether a venue matters or whether it is a dinner or a luncheon are: “Yes,” and “No.”

What matters is how you frame it, market it and present it to your audience. It takes all the factors being pulled together in a special way, not just to ensure a successful event, but to ensure how the organization will now be perceived, and what that will mean for its future.

Just because you have always done a specific kind of event doesn’t mean you couldn’t benefit from a change of pace. You could be surprised at the results.

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Have a comment or a question about creating or expanding your special event? Email me at Info@NatalieShear.com. With over 30 years in conference and event planning, we can help you turn your vision into reality.
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Have you seen Natalie’s ebook on Special Events ??

You can’t/shouldn’t assume that donors are OK with having their names (and the amounts or ranges of their gifts) made known to anyone outside the NPO they are supporting. Donors have a right to assume that such information is confidential.

The Codes of Ethics of the various organizations of professional fundraising staff and/or counsel unequivocally state that a donor has the right to privacy, and only s/he can give permission for his/her name to be publicized.

There are three common ways this is accomplished:
•   By asking the donor to check a box on the form they return with their gift
    agreeing that their name may be used;
•   By checking a box on the form they return with their gift denying
    permission for their name to be used; and,
•   By asking that donors check a box on the form they return with their gift
    if they don’t wish their name published — if the box is not checked, the
    assumption is made that permission has been given.

In the case of a gift/check submitted personally or through a solicitor, the donor should be asked his/her preference, and that preference should be recorded … and honored.

Since not every NPO is yet asking donors for such permission, and not every donor reads all those forms as carefully as they should, NPOs should make the extra effort — especially when contemplating publicizing donors’ names as broadly as does the internet — to adequately inform donors and to get specific permission.

It’s considerate, and it’s good donor relations.

Even publishing a donor’s name in an off-line annual report should engender the same kind/degree of consideration of the donor’s right to privacy.

Interestingly (and sadly) enough, most NPOs to which I’ve described this concept, and emphasized the ethics of complying with such rules of “consideration,” choose not to consider that concept to the degree they should.

It points up the need for everyone (board, staff, volunteers) to be educated about the ethics of fundraising – and, yes, there is a code of ethics for the practice of fundraising.

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Have a comment or a question about starting or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.

People may not judge books by their covers, but they certainly judge your email before they open it.

If your email message has an uninspiring subject line, it will never get opened. Go into your “deleted items” folder in your email program, and scan the emails that you never opened. Odds are, none of those subject lines appealed to you.

What makes a good subject line? It needs to entice the reader into opening the message. That’s all. Think of a great “teaser” line on an outer envelope you mail to your donors. It provokes the reader through emotion or humor to see what’s inside.

•   Really bad subject lines ensure that your email message doesn’t even get into the readers’ inbox, but instead goes straight to the “spam” folder. Avoid all caps and more than one punctuation mark.

•   Don’t give away the story in the subject line. Hint at what’s inside, but make them open it to find out.

•   A good headline might read like a newspaper story headline. “Seniors may get no Social Security COLA next year” will interest seniors and make them want to see what’s inside. “Seniors will get no Social Security COLA next year,” tells them what’s in the article, and eliminates the need for them to open it.

•   It needs to be concise. The first 30 characters need to convince them to at least read the rest of the subject line.

•   “Video: 4 ways to save the planet” will not only get more people to open the email, but more of them will click the video link inside. The same is true for “Survey:” and other calls for their involvement.

Network for Good recently published a great guide for subject line writers (and tweeters) called Big Impact in Small Places that I recommend for all involved in this process.

Tell us your best and worst subject lines, and ask us your additional email fundraising questions!

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Rick Christ has been helping nonprofit organizations use the internet for fundraising, communications and advocacy since 2009, and has been a frequent writer on the subject. He delights in your questions and arguments. Please contact him at: RChrist@Amergent.com or at his LinkedIn Page

As noted earlier, the first official announcement of the campaign is about the person who has volunteered to Chair the Campaign and who has made a significant (pace-setting) commitment. That is one way in which the Chair is recognized.

The Chair, who is often (one of) the largest donor(s) to the campaign, is recognized initially by being asked to be the Chair. And, most/many other pieces of campaign and post-campaign publicity will include his/her name and how s/he has made a difference. The same, at appropriate levels, goes for all of the Division Leaders, Co-Chairs and Vice-Chairs

In addition, those leaders, who are likely major donors, get to decide what other formal recognition they’d like !! Yep, in a way, it’s their decision.

Recognition is not just a matter of putting up plaques or publishing lists, recognition must satisfy the needs of the leader/donor. Remember, in the Planning Study that was done to determine how a campaign would succeed, potential leaders and donors were also asked about the kind of recognition they thought would be appropriate.

So pay attention to the information you got from the Study. Listen to people !!

Recognition can be as simple as a handshake from the right person. It can be an inexpensive, unique gift (like a signed book or something made by someone served by the nonprofit, it can be a name on a brick, it can be almost anything … as long as it’s meaningful to the person being recognized.

Some folks do like to see their names on buildings, walls, equipment, the backs of seats at the opera, accomodations for the homeless animals, and in published lists of donors, etc., etc. You can name programs or parts of programs after major donors … or after someone they’d like to honor/remember. A creative person can come up with an extensive list of “naming opportunities.” Some folks don’t like that stuff !!

Even many anonymous donors want/need to be recognized – maybe not publicly, but in some fashion. Consider the (really anonymous) donor whose gift comes through a law firm – a narrative, of how that donor’s gift made a real impact, can be sent to the contact at the law firm for forwarding to the donor.

Although it’s highly unlikely, an effective recognition program may have as many ways of honoring/recognizing its leaders and major donors, as it has leaders and major donors!!

In essence, “Recognition” is a matter of satisfying people’s needs. The more people you can “recognize,” the more people will want to work with you and/or give to you in the future.

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Have a comment or a question about starting or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.

Responsible planning, in any economy, involves identifying sources of funding sufficient to ensure continuation/survival of the programs that satisfy the needs of the people and the communities you serve.

Ensuring the funding of your programs requires that you minimize the risk of (again?) losing a large percentage of your income.

According to “Giving USA 2010,” in 2009, over 88% of the non-governmental dollars that went to Non-Profit Organizations came from individual donors or their estates. And, common wisdom is that at least 80% of that amount — or 65% of all non-government dollars — came from major gifts from individuals.

And even though everybody, including the wealthy, has been impacted by the economy, major donors are still a reliable source of funding.

Their gifts may be smaller than before the “recession,” but if they still have the means, if you still have a relationship with them and if they have a need you can satisfy by getting them to give to you, then they are still major gift prospects.

For an NPO without a major gifts program, now is the time to look seriously at creating one. Indicators (including the increase in spending over the holidays) are that people’s attitudes/outlooks about the economy have turned positive, and the people that are spending are (or should be) your prospects.

A major gift program is no more than the step-by-step identification, cultivation, involvement and (timely) solicitation of a number of individuals … each in their own timeframe. (See: Who Is A Major Gift Prospect?)

The difference between successful and unsuccessful major gift programs is the effort placed on identifying and cultivating prospective major gift prospects. It is the determination of who has access to people with wealth, who is the best person to guide the cultivation process for each individual, and who is the best person to know when the time is right to ask … and then do the “asking.”

A Major Gifts Program is easier to design and implement, and more cost effective than direct mail and the vast majority of events. Major gifts are also a more reliable source of long-term funding than are corporate and foundation grants.

The big question is whether your organization is getting your share of the major gifts money that has been and is still supporting so many nonprofits !!

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Have a comment or a question about starting or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.

Over the years, the biggest mistake that many non-profits made was believing that Grants from Corporations, Foundations and Government would continue at former levels.

Giving by foundations and corporations is dependent upon their available resources, and during the recent “low period” in the stock market their assets shrank dramatically. And, obviously, with shrunken portfolios, they were less able to make grants at the same levels as in prior years – if at all.

•   In a period where the stock market lost almost one-third of its value,
    a non-profit that relied on foundation support went way beyond wishful
    thinking – it bordered on denial of reality !!

•   Where corporations laid off employees and looked for government bailouts,
    counting on corporate support was foolhardy.

•   In that economy, where there was a lot less government money going
    to non-profit organizations, relying on federal, state or local support
    was delusional.

•   It’s was also dangerous to rely on special events; as, during a recession,
    paying to attend an event is likely to drop very low on people’s lists
    of priorities.

While governments cut complete line items, and few foundations or corporations wanted-or-were-able to extend their commitments to non-profit organizations, NPOs still had their commitments to the people they served.

So, when the grant for a specific program ran out and didn’t get renewed, did you end that program and discontinue service to those who needed it, or did you have a backup source of ongoing funding ??

When the event you relied on to fund your programs/operations didn’t do as well as you’d hoped, did you tell the people you serve that you “can’t help them right now” ??

Were you able to continue your programs at prior levels ?? Did you maintain or reduce service to your constituency ?? What did you do ??

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Have a comment or a question about starting or expanding your fundraising program? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.

Never take anyone’s advice on how to run an email campaign (except this advice from me)!

Instead, take the good ideas you hear from others and test them within your campaign. Testing online is similar to testing in direct mail (or with your favorite recipe, for that matter).

Test one subject line against another, or one landing page against another. Start with your favorite (or the one the boss likes most) or the one that did the best last time. That’s your “control.” Then find one variable that might improve results, and that new message is your “test.”

Easier said than done, you say? True. Most basic email tools do not have sophisticated testing capabilities. However, you can get some pretty reliable results with a few tricks.

If your list is less than 10,000 email addresses, the best you can do is to split the list into two groups and send one of the halves the test email and the other the control.

If the list is larger, you can create two test groups of 5,000 email addresses each – one for the control, and the other for the test. Within 24 hours, you should know which list did best, and send that message to the rest of the list.

How do you create valid test segments? The only one sure data element you have for each address is the email address itself. Most email tools will let you create a segment of a list based on the content of the email address.

So, if you create a segment that includes every email address with an ‘s’ or ‘t’ or ‘k’ in it, you might end up with 5,000 names. Avoid using a, o, l, c, o, and m, or else you’ll get every AOL.Com address in one segment or the other. That’s never a good idea, since AOL subscribers might very well perform, as a group, differently than others. For the same reason, avoid ‘y’ (Yahoo!) and ‘g’ (Gmail) as well as any other letters that might skew your results.

Now you can test different subject lines, long copy against short copy, different designs, anything – and get pretty valid results.

How do you test landing pages? Send the exact same email message to both groups, but in one message, change the link so it goes to the test landing page.

As an added way of ensuring valid results, and to maximize your overall response, see if you can swap the segments: mail message B to those on list A who didn’t respond, and message A to those on list B who didn’t respond. If your lists are equal, whatever message did the best last time should do better this time. And, you’ll gain more responses from people who didn’t see or respond to the message the first time.

Do your test, tell us your results, and ask us your additional testing questions!

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We’re taking a break until after the New Year.
Be back on January 4, 2011

Best wishes to you and yours from Hank,
Natalie, Andrew & Rick. ☺

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Rick Christ has been helping nonprofit organizations use the internet for fundraising, communications and advocacy since 2009, and has been a frequent writer on the subject. He delights in your questions and arguments. Please contact him at: RChrist@Amergent.com or at his LinkedIn Page

(First in a series on Fundraising & Social Media)

There’s no such a thing as an “email fundraising campaign.”

“Wait,” you say. You’ve heard of lots of nonprofits that are raising money with email. “How can there be no such thing…?”

That’s because a typical email just doesn’t have the technical power to get the reader’s attention, generate continued interest, create the desire, and capture an action.

At the very least, you need a landing page to “close the deal,” an email message to send to those who’ve taken the action you requested, and a follow-up page to send them to. It’s usually a lot more complicated than that.

So, email is often the beginning of an online fundraising campaign. It’s the honey you cast upon a few thousand flowers (depending on how many email addresses you have) that entice them to come to your web site.

Here’s a checklist of some of the key elements in an online campaign:

•    The Subject Line – Goal: to get the email opened. Hint: think in terms of a
     good outer envelope teaser line. Don’t give away the contents of the message.
•    The “From” Name – Goal: to build recognition and help with email opening.
     Hint: Test the signer’s name against the organization or campaign name.
•    The Email Message – Goal: to generate a click to the website. Hint: email
     messages are scanned, not read. Use bullet points, relevant images (linked to
     the landing page) and make sure a text link or button is always visible
     no matter how the reader scrolls
•    The Landing Page – Goal: to “close the sale.” Hint: Give them enough additional
     information (or, better yet, emotion) to convince them to act, then take away all
     of the obstacles to successful action (e.g. unnecessary additional clicks,
     distracting links to other pages, irrelevant questions)
•    The Thank-You Page – Goal: to immediately broaden and/or deepen the
     relationship with this supporter. Hint: Here’s a good place for a survey, or a link
     to a longer video. They want to know they made a smart move on the
     previous page, so give them a chance to get to know you better.
•    The Thank-You Email – Goal: exactly the same as the thank-you page.
     Hint: If your automatic thank-you email is more like a receipt, send a second email
     a few days later, with warmer copy and more links.

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Rick Christ has been helping nonprofit organizations use the internet for fundraising, communications and advocacy since 2009, and has been a frequent writer on the subject. He delights in your questions and arguments. Please contact him at: RChrist@Amergent.com or at his LinkedIn Page

Publicity is an important part of any extended campaign … serving many purposes.
• Multiple opportunities to tell how the Project
  will benefit the community
• Public recognition to the Institutional and
  Campaign Leaders, and selected donors
• Creating and maintaining community
  enthusiasm

There must, however, be specific conditions and a strict timetable for the release of information.

If a goal is not reached, if the campaign fails, then the message everybody gets is that the NPO’s leadership does not have its act together and that people probably shouldn’t trust them with their money. The whole point, therefore, of not announcing or suggesting a campaign is to avoid a public failure.

If you have a significant percentage of the goal already committed and you KNOW (not hope) where the rest is coming from, then it’s safe to make “announcements,” but not before then.

Most publicity that a Campaign gets will be “old news,” but it will be the first time the public gets to hear it.

The official announcement (first press release) is about the person who has volunteered to Chair the Campaign and who has made a significant (pace-setting) commitment. That release, and most subsequent publicity, will also include some stock wording about the Project the Campaign will fund … why the community needs that Project, or how the community will benefit.

Keep in mind, this is the first “announcement” of any kind to be made regarding the Campaign. No mention is made at this point of how much has been raised. The impression to be created is that the process of assembling the leadership is only just beginning, and the only mention of dollars is about The Goal.

Statements of total dollars raised or the posting of a “campaign thermometer,” are not made until well into the Public Phase.

Publicity, for the most part, focuses on people … the leaders, the work they’re doing to ensure Campaign success, what they’ve accomplished so far, and (as appropriate – and with their permission) the actual commitment they’ve made toward the Campaign Goal.

The next series of announcements, one-at-a-time and at the appropriate time, are about the people who have volunteered to lead various Divisions, how all of the Board Members have made commitments … totaling $XXXXX, and how successful each of the Divisions has been, dollar-wise.

All of that publicity spread out over the Public Phase of the Campaign, maintains enthusiasm and begins to give recognition to the Campaign leadership and some of the major donors who got the Campaign off to a running start.

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Have a comment or a question about starting or expanding your basic fundraising program, your major gifts fundraising program or a capital campaign? Email me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com. With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, we’ll likely be able to answer your questions.